Neo-Nazi narratives are always disturbing, and none more so, for obvious reasons, than those that hail from Germany itself. David Wnendt’s Combat Girls focuses on the neo-Nazi underworld in a small, unspecified German city.
Marisa and her boyfriend Sandro are members of a loose affiliation of racist, skinhead thugs whose idea of fun is to go around threatening and harassing anyone who doesn’t adhere to their ideology: Muslims, East Asians, even native-born Germans whose hair is too long or who look upon them with an expression of disapproval. When Gerdy Zint’s Sandro goes over the line one day, he’s hauled away by the police, further weakening Alina Levshin’s Marisa’s already-fragile self-control. Before long, she commits an act of brutality, with consequences that she appears to regret unexpectedly. It’s the first shaky step on the path of reassessing her beliefs.
This is far from a straightforward redemption narrative, however. Nazism is such a disgusting worldview that one does not fall into it easily or without extensive thought, and neither is one going to break free of it based on one regrettable action, however dire. Combat Girls excels at showing Marisa’s evolution, not away from Nazism but rather through it, as other elements are mixed into a stew that does not altogether want them—elements like compassion and simple decency and, yes, even the urge to have bear and nurture a child. These changes are suggested obliquely, and actress Levshin gets great mileage out of her tortured mouth and soulful eyes, suggesting her character’s inner struggles that are rarely made explicit. These features go a long way toward leavening what could have been, in less skilled hands, a pat and unbelievable series of actions.
Further complicating this setup is the introduction of Svenja (Jella Haase), a 15-year-old girl who comes within the orbit of Marisa and her friends and whose flirtation with National Socialism echoes what we know of Marisa’s indoctrination years earlier. It’s tempting to lay out Combat Girls schematically: as Svenja moves toward Nazism, Marisa moves away from it. However, this oversimplifies the film’s concerns, as neither journey is clear-cut. The presence of a pair of Afghani brothers muddies the waters even more. At first the target of Marisa’s scorn, their relationship becomes more complex, causing tensions between Marisa and her boyfriend—and within Marisa herself.
Combat Girls is compellingly filmed, with steady, relentless pacing and viscerally effective (although brief) scenes of violence. The film is gripping, utilizing a circular structure that introduces the climax at first, then circles back, building toward the inevitably tragic outcome. The color palette is washed out and grim, lending this small German city an unwelcome, unpleasant air. At the same time, sharp bursts of music deliberately underscore moments of recklessness or abandon. (The soundtrack’s neo-Nazi heavy metal will compound the viewers’ fear.)
Performances are solid throughout, with Levshin and Jella Haase outstanding as Marisa and Svenja, respectively. Gerdy Zint, as Marisa’s boyfriend Sandro, is also convincing and terrifying. One criticism concerns the parents of both women; the adults in this drama are forgettable and weak. Perhaps that’s the point, but the cartoonishly ineffective parental authority in the storyline is tough to believe, especially in contrast with the verisimilitude of the skinhead party scene.
Extras on the Artsploitation Film DVD are few but useful, including an interesting eight-page booklet with commentary on the film and a bit of background about Germany’s far-right movement, written by Travis Crawford, a contributor to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. There’s also an illuminating 12-minute onstage interview with Alina Levshin, in which she discusses her preparation for the role, a process that involved immersing herself in neo-Nazi material and propaganda. She also touches on how she understands the character of Marisa and explicates some of her ideas about Marisa’s past that are not made explicit in the film.
Combat Girls does not make for easy viewing, but it deserves to be widely seen. According to Crawford’s essay, there are currently ten thousand neo-Nazis in Germany. For anyone as baffled by that statistic as I am—and I hope that’s most anyone reading this review—this film needs to be seen, discussed, and passed along.